Strategic Plan for Small Business Development at the 11th

Strategic Plan for Small Business

Development at the 11th Street Bridge Park

By: Grace Baranowski, Benjamin Bond,

Rachel Sier, Yasuyo Tsukamoto

Supervisor

Dr. Jesse Lecy

Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public

Affairs

Syracuse University

June 2016

Prepared for

Scott Kratz, Director

11th Street Bridge Park Project

Strategic Plan for Small Business

Development at the 11th Street Bridge Park

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

Introduction ......................................................................................................................................2

Proposed Bridge Park Incubator Model ...........................................................................................5

Selection Process ......................................................................................................................6

Incubation .................................................................................................................................9

Graduation ..............................................................................................................................20

Organizational Structure ................................................................................................................22

Metrics and Governance ................................................................................................................27

Conclusion .....................................................................................................................................28

Referenced Works ..........................................................................................................................29

Appendix ........................................................................................................................................32

Appendix A: Timeline ............................................................................................................33

Appendix B: Budget ...............................................................................................................35

Appendix C: Washington, DC Area Small Business Resources ............................................40

Appendix D: Data Collection & Metrics ................................................................................42

Appendix E: Case Study Interviews .......................................................................................45

Appendix F: Kiosk Designs ....................................................................................................54

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INTRODUCTION

The 11th Street Bridge Park’s Equitable Development Plan (EDP) is an unprecedented step to

foster community-driven economic development east of the Anacostia River in Washington, DC

in conjunction with the creation of this new public amenity. This report is specifically designed

as an initial strategic implementation plan for the kiosk-based businesses that will operate on the

Bridge Park, responding to Recommendation 1 of the EDP:1

This reports calls for the creation of a new entity, known herein as the Bridge Park Incubator that

will be created to staff, train, coordinate, and connect local entrepreneurs to the opportunities and

technical assistance needed to create successful self-sustaining businesses that are engines for

economic growth and job creation in the Southeast community. Synthesizing the many

conceptualizations provided in the literature, we define a food incubator as an organization that

provides:

1) Small business technical assistance;

2) Subsidized rates for commercial kitchen usage; and

3) Access to retail opportunities and capital.

As there are many partnership decisions that must be made in the next calendar year, this report

is intended to serve as a guide and critical thinking piece for Bridge Park leadership.

Rationale for a Food Incubator as a Vehicle for Economic Development

Local community input in the Equitable Development planning process prioritized a culinary

incubator. However, beyond local interest, culinary incubators have become a nationwide

strategy to increase wealth and community ownership in historically low-income communities.

The food incubator model provides the social, technical, and economic capital that historically

eluded many African-American communities due to local and federal governments’ intentional

divestment throughout the 20th century.

The proposed incubator model combines a structured curriculum of small business technical

assistance with personalized mentoring and coaching to address the specific needs of each

entrepreneur. While, on average, only 28% of culinary incubator participants across the country

are low-income,2 we believe this model can be adapted to support this community. The research

team has examined a variety of food incubators that work in communities similar to Anacostia.

1 “11th Street Bridge Park – Equitable Development Plan.” 11th Street Bridge Park, 10 Nov. 2015.

<http://bridgepark.org/sites/default/files/EDP%20Final%20-%20UPDATED.pdf>. 2 “U.S. Kitchen Incubators: An Industry Snapshot" Econsult Solutions, Inc., 5 Aug. 2013.

<http://www.econsultsolutions.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/ESI-SharedKitchenReport_2013.pdf>.

Recommendation #1: Establish a kiosk-based food service on the Bridge Park

featuring existing and new small businesses from the surrounding Bridge Park

Impact Area. A kiosk-based food service model will allow multiple small

businesses that are locally owned to operate on the Bridge Park and access a

wider customer base than they would in their respective neighborhoods. This

should include stalls near the café, as well as food carts and perhaps a food

trucks. (Note: this will be addition to a stand-alone café on the park.)

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They include the following: CommonWealth Kitchen (Boston, MA); Pacific Gateway Center

(Honolulu, HI); Hot Bread Kitchen (New York, NY); The Cleveland Model (Cleveland, OH); La

Cocina (San Francisco, CA); and Detroit Kitchen Connect (Detroit, MI). Analysis of their

experiences, coupled with findings from the literature, uncovered several truths:

The US food industry is growing

The U.S. Department of Labor Bureau of Labor Statistics forecasts food

preparation to be one of the fastest growing occupational categories between 2014

and 2021.3

The food industry is accessible to low-income workers

The food industry is low-barrier in nature, and does not require significant formal

education beyond a high school credential to build a successful business.

Due to the prevalence of restaurants in the Washington, DC area, many low-

income individuals have significant culinary employment experience.

Low-income entrepreneurs face funding challenges

Low-income entrepreneurs independently seeking loans face greater challenges

than their higher socioeconomic peers in successfully receiving funding from

traditional lenders.4

If funded, low-income entrepreneurs often receive higher interest loans due to

lower credit scores and limited ability to use business assets as collateral. They

also have weaker support networks.5

The food incubator model addresses many of these challenges by creating a community of shared

resources of technical advisors, commercial grade kitchen facilities, case managers, and access to

retail opportunities and capital funding.

Competitive Strategy

As of January 2016, the 68.4 square miles of Washington, DC contain 2,144 eating and drinking

establishments with a projected sales of $3.6 billion in 2016 alone.6 Still, DC residents

demonstrate a growing desire for authentically and locally made products that use fresh and

healthy ingredients. Much of the restaurant and bar growth has been concentrated in the

Northwest and Northeast quadrants of the city, with only a few new establishments opening in

Southeast. This demand has the ability to redirect foot traffic to traditionally low-income areas:

Union Kitchen, a large culinary incubator located in the NoMA neighborhood, has been able to

bring customers from all quadrants of the city. Competition may increase on the Bridge Park, as

the café and farmer’s market draw potential customers away from the entrepreneurs’ kiosks.

Still, the research team believes that the Bridge Park Incubator is arriving at an integral time in

3 "Employment Projections: Occupations with the Most Job Growth." United States Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor

Statistics. 18 April 2016. <http://www.bls.gov/emp/ep_table_104.htm>. 4 Johnston, Katie. "Low-income Entrepreneurs Welcome Added Assistance." The Boston Globe. Boston Globe Media Partners,

LLC., 12 Oct. 2015. <https://www.bostonglobe.com/business/2015/10/11/resources-expand-for-low-income-

entrepreneurs/HP3g9wMbTZUMVWXTogKaHO/story.html>. 5 Ibid. 6 “District of Columbia: Restaurant Industry at a Glance.” National Restaurant Association. 2016.

<http://www.restaurant.org/Downloads/PDFs/State-Statistics/2016/DC_Restaurants2016>.

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the economic development of the East of the River community to provide a new pipeline of

grassroots, primarily low-income entrepreneurs whose products will appeal to the city as a

whole.

Methodology

The research team has identified best practices through an environmental scan reviewing existing

literature and a series of semi-structured interviews with existing small business incubators.

Guiding Questions

This research centered on four key categories of implementation: 1) spatial needs of the kiosk

program; 2) program parameters (e.g., the application and onboarding process of kiosk

participants and the manifestation of the social enterprise model); 3) organizational structure

(e.g., staffing and budgetary needs and/or potential partnership models); and 4) governance

structure (e.g., ensuring equitable representation and leadership of the kiosk program).

Resources

The literature ranges from academic journal analysis to newspaper articles to national industry

reports to student-produced theses and dissertations. The research team also contacted multiple

peer culinary incubators across the country and ultimately interviewed two national leaders: La

Cocina (San Francisco, CA) and Detroit Kitchen Connect (Detroit, MI). Edited interview

transcripts may be found in the Appendix. For additional context, the research team interviewed

Urban Institute scholar Brett Theodos, Senior Research Associate at the Metropolitan Housing

and Communities Policy Center at the Urban Institute.

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PROPOSED BRIDGE PARK INCUBATOR MODEL

The Bridge Park Incubator is, at its most distilled essence, an opportunity for food entrepreneurs

to access business development resources and personalized coaching that will allow them to

successfully scale their business and achieve greater economic stability.

Three phases of entrepreneurial activity characterize the Bridge Park Incubator: 1) recruitment

and selection; 2) incubation; and 3) graduation.

A competitive selection process first tests applicants for the primary qualities and experiences

needed to succeed in this intensive growth process. The incubation period itself, lasting between

one to three years, provides the entrepreneurs with access to small business technical assistance,

commercial kitchen rentals at subsidized rates, retail opportunities, and small business loans at

competitive rates. Self-defined benchmarks and individualized goal setting characterize the

graduation process. Woven throughout this report are a variety of recommendations for potential

partnerships, spatial and facility needs, and programmatic standards that the Bridge Park

Incubator may adopt in order to achieve their ultimate goals of supporting local entrepreneurial

growth.

This culinary incubator seeks to cultivate community-led economic development in the one-mile

walkshed east and west of the 11th Street Bridge Park, empowering both incubator participants

and friends—those individuals who unsuccessfully applied to the incubator or those who exited

the incubator after participating for some amount of time—to lead local ownership of growth.

The main form of incubator investment and activity is access. To participants, the incubator will

provide access to kitchen and retail spaces, as well as intensive training and one-on-one support.

To friends, the incubator will provide access to its wide organizational network, connecting those

who cannot continue with the incubator to alternate resources. Both incubator participants and

friends will utilize these resources to realize self-defined personal and entrepreneurial goals. This

process will transform both the individual and the surrounding community. Strengthened by a

network of support, the individual will serve their community as a hub of job creation. Together,

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these individuals will ensure local ownership of growth in the community surrounding the

Bridge Park.

Table. Theory of Change

Participants Friends

Input Access to retail and kitchen;

Small business technical assistance

Referrals to organizational

network

Output Progress to self-defined personal and entrepreneurial goals

Outcome Individual Strengthening of individuals as job creator

Community Local ownership of growth; community-led economic development

1. Selection Process

A dynamic and targeted recruitment and application process will ensure that the Bridge Park

Incubator achieves its goals of successfully uplifting local entrepreneurs into profitable business

owners and spreading wider wealth creation and employment opportunities to the Southeast

community.

Target Market

As stated in the Equitable Development Plan, the intention of this food incubator is to support

and nurture entrepreneurs who live in the one-mile walkshed of the Bridge Park. However, the

literature recommends against creating strict hyper-local application requirements, as there may

not be consistent demand or supply of entrepreneurs who are prepared to engage in the intensive

incubation process. Rather, incubators such as the Cleveland Model, a place-based public-

private partnership in the heart of downtown Cleveland, recommend the use of a graduated

ranking system to determine applicant eligibility. If this model were to be adopted, top priority

would be given to applicants living in the target Bridge Park area, then low-income applicants

from across the District, and finally applicants across the District regardless of income.7

Beyond demographics, our interviews with food incubators such as La Cocina in San Francisco

and Detroit Kitchen Connect, emphasized the importance of selecting small business owners

who embodied the entrepreneurial spirit. While difficult to measure, the literature and interviews

emphasized individual qualities such as charisma, dedication, and grit as important indicators of

business owners’ ability to succeed.8

Product Viability

Another key requirement for entry into the Bridge Park Incubator is the quality and viability of

the product that the entrepreneur plans to bring to a wider market. Every incubator the team

studied required that applicants had already created a business plan; in many cases, the incubator

expected entrepreneurs to sell beyond their friends and family.9 Those incubators with selling

requirements expected applicants to hold a business license and any other required licenses.

However, as a business license may serve as a barrier to some of the lower-income applicant, the

7 "Case Statement for Food Innovation District in Rainier Beach." American Community Trust, Inc., Mar. 2016.

<http://www.seattle.gov/dpd/cs/groups/pan/@pan/documents/web_informational/p2429846.pdf>. 8 Gaskill, LuAnn Ricketts, Howard E Van Auken, and Ronald A Manning. "A Factor Analytic Study of the Perceived Causes of

Small Business Failure." Journal of Small Business Management, 31. 4. (1993): 18-31.

<http://search.proquest.com/docview/220986551/fulltextPDF/5A9D96C9799D4701PQ/1?accountid=14214>. 9 Grose, Anika. Detroit Kitchen Connect. Personal Interview. 3 June 2016.

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team suggests that the Bridge Park Incubator refrain from requiring this step. The incubator

should still give priority to those who have accomplished this and meet the other primary

targeted requirements of the Equitable Development Plan.

Another consideration is the scalability of the food product, both in terms of the cost of

ingredients and feasibility of producing a much higher quantity. The participation of small

business experts familiar with comparable products in the selection process may help identify

potential product red flags from the beginning.

The team recommends that the incubator only consider food-based enterprises able to sell

products on the Bridge Park in this preliminary stage. Expanding the scope of eligible enterprises

to include non-food enterprises, like jewelry and art, may be a possibility as the incubator scales.

Business Maturity

One of the largest challenges for any small business incubator, especially one focused on low-

income entrepreneurs, is the level of risk they are taking on by investing in unknown businesses.

While this is indeed the rationale for the Bridge Park Incubator in the first place, it does not

negate this concern. In fact, throughout the production of this plan, local experts and peer

organizations pushed back at the assumption that the incubator’s entrepreneurs would truly be

low-income, and the literature supported this concern. An industry study found that, nationally,

only 28% of food incubator participants are low-income.10

One potential remedy for this challenge is to select a mix of established and start-up enterprises.

Doing so will widen the socioeconomic reach of the incubator, encourage valuable knowledge-

sharing among selected entrepreneurs, and reduce the incubator’s own liability in these

investments.11 As the team recommends a cohort model of applicants, there is rich possibility for

the more established business to assist the start-ups as they move through the product and

business development process. The incubator may also consider what level of support staff will

be able to provide in terms of product development and marketing, depending on the maturity of

the business.

Creation of Community-Based Ideation Partnerships

A strategy employed by both La Cocina and Detroit Kitchen Connect is to partner with

community-based organizations that offer basic business planning and financial coaching

services. This is to target local residents who are interested in becoming entrepreneurs and

potentially have a nascent idea, but need additional support in developing their business plan.

Interviewees made clear that this level of support needed to be outside the scope of the incubator,

so staff could focus on technical assistance and product development, rather than the initial

ideation phase. Given that a probable high percentage of Southeast resident fall into this

category, the team recommends that Bridge Park Incubator staff prioritize building partnerships

with existing organizations who already offer these service to create a pipeline of local

entrepreneurs. The team also believes that these organizations could serve as excellent referral

10 "U.S. Kitchen Incubators: An Industry Snapshot" Econsult Solutions, Inc., 5 Aug. 2013.

<http://www.econsultsolutions.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/ESI-SharedKitchenReport_2013.pdf>. 11 "Case Statement for Food Innovation District in Rainier Beach." American Community Trust, Inc., Mar. 2016.

<http://www.seattle.gov/dpd/cs/groups/pan/@pan/documents/web_informational/p2429846.pdf>.

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partners if individuals apply to the incubator, but are not fully prepared to begin this intensive

process. However, previous involvement with such an ideation partner would not be a

requirement for applicant eligibility. Potential partners include the Anacostia Economic

Development Corporation (AEDC) Business Center and The Hive 2.0, which offers a 7-week

entrepreneurship course. For additional possible partners please refer to the Small Business

Resources in the Appendix located at the end of this report.

Application Process Proposal

Based on the above considerations, the team has designed a proposal for the Bridge Park

Incubator application process. The team believes a three-part application will holistically

examine the needed qualities and experience required to build a successful small business in the

District. The team envisions this process to occur annually at the start of the incubator, with the

possibility of more applications as it scales over time. If the incubator chooses to pursue a rolling

application that caters to individuals, rather than a formal cohort, the incubator should consider a

more simplified process.

1) Paper Application: Entrepreneurs will first qualify for consideration by completing a

paper application describing their business plans and goals. Incubator applications

generally request that entrepreneurs provide proof of income and residency along with

their business plans.12 This application will also require such information, given its focus

on empowering low-income residents within the one-mile walkshed of the Bridge Park.

This application will also request that applicants discuss timing availability to allow for

future ease of scheduling. Nationally, almost six-in-ten incubators require that

entrepreneurs complete an application, but only one-third require interviewing

entrepreneurs individually.13

2) In-Person Interviews: Next, the incubator will invite second-round applicants for one-on-

one, in-person interviews. While the previous round focused on entrepreneurial skill, this

round emphasizes the personal skills like tenacity and resourcefulness that can make or

break the entrepreneurial venture. The literature roundly agrees that these intangible

characteristics are vital to entrepreneurial success.14 Discussing community service and

volunteerism can also highlight those applicants most likely to generously share

knowledge and space with peers and future incubator participants. Staff will calculate and

summarize results of the first and second rounds in each applicant file as this process

progresses. At any stage, the incubator will refer those who do not progress on to the next

round to local partners that can further develop applicants’ entrepreneurial success.

3) Stimulated Market Competition: Creating a monitored market in which applicants sell

products to interested community members, small business experts, and Bridge Park

12 Allen, Annabelle, Junpei Guo, Jessica Tupper, and Zengyizhou (Josie) Xu. "Rainier Beach Food Innovation Center: Kitchen

Incubator Business Model for City of Seattle Community Development Planning." Evans School of Public Policy, n.d. 2014.

<http://www.seattle.gov/dpd/cs/groups/pan/@pan/documents/web_informational/p2165050.pdf>. 13 "U.S. Kitchen Incubators: An Industry Snapshot" Econsult Solutions, Inc., 5 Aug. 2013.

<http://www.econsultsolutions.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/ESI-SharedKitchenReport_2013.pdf>. 14 Gaskill, LuAnn Ricketts, Howard E Van Auken, and Ronald A Manning. "A Factor Analytic Study of the Perceived Causes of


<http://search.proquest.com/docview/220986551/fulltextPDF/5A9D96C9799D4701PQ/1?accountid=14214>.

9

Incubator staff will allow the panel to test the products and judge entrepreneurs’

salesmanship and charisma. This set-up allows all applicants at this stage to receive

feedback from local experts and to increase buzz around their product. The incubator

should continue communication with visiting experts and even invite them to serve as

guest speakers or incubator mentors. Such network cultivate strengthens participants’ ties

to existing businesses and increases valuable social capital. After all third-round

applicants have pitched their businesses, the experts will select and announce live which

entrepreneurs will join the incubator, as the experts will have access to the ranked

application files from the second round.

2. Incubation

The incubator will offer entrepreneurs intensive support and access to production and retail

facilities. A strong cohort model satisfies the incubator’s need to conserve time and resources,

while a combination of intensive, short-term training and extended one-on-one support will

provide the skills and guidance incubator participants need to further develop their enterprises. A

model for the entrepreneur’s experience in the incubator is as follows:

Program Structure

This section refers to organizational needs of the class, including creation of a cohort model and

the necessary regulations and fees to support their progress.

Summer Fall Spring Summer

Application

Process

Business Training

& Product

Development

(6 months)

Business Launch Kiosk Retail

Business Season

Year 1

Year-Round

Opportunities for Building Product and Increasing Market Awareness

Years 2 and 3

Graduation from Incubator

End of Year 3

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Cohort Model

Limited incubator space and resources serve as the main constraints on the number of

entrepreneurs each cohort may contain. Case study interviews emphasized a greater-than-

anticipated need for space in culinary production facilities. Those incubators working with

inflexible spaces, such as historic facilities, also cited space as a key constraint in retail activities.

As inexperienced entrepreneurs will also require considerable investment of staff time and

personal attention, the number of incubator staff serve as an additional constraint. Incubator staff

resources will be very limited, especially at the start of operations. Limiting the number of

entrepreneurs will allow staff to concentrate resources for maximum impact. Similarly, a small

and focused group of entrepreneurs cultivates more intimate co-learning opportunities among

incubator participants.

Conversely, a need to protect against attrition and a desire to maximize diverse entrepreneur

experiences may both encourage a larger cohort. Each peer incubator studied reported at least

some level of attrition as the program progressed. La Cocina stated that they expect an attrition

rate of 70% at two transitions in the process—moving from selection to incubation and moving

again from graduation to owning a successful business. Building into the program design an

assumption that not every entrepreneur will progress to the final graduation stage, and allowing

slightly more than necessary to enter, ensures a sufficiently large cohort class exiting the

incubator. The business maturity of the selected enterprises will also inform the incubator’s rate

of attrition. Maximizing such a range of businesses opens a wider door for collaborative learning

between entrepreneurs. Still, even a small cohort may still exhibit a diversity of business

maturity levels.

We recommend limiting the first cohort to six to eight businesses in order to balance these

constraints and factors. However, given that the incubator may weather a higher rate of attrition

as the program formalizes its procedures, an initial cohort of up to ten may be selected—

dependent on incubator staff capacity. Ultimately, the level and quality of applications received

in the first year will determine the exact number of participants in that first cohort. La Cocina

faced this challenge, initially finding it quite challenging to find any participants. La Cocina

responded by attracting participants through a rolling application process, transitioning to a

cohort once the program had gained enough traction.15 Regardless of the path the incubator

chooses to follow, staff must on-board enough entrepreneurs to ensure that at least four to six

businesses are prepared to launch on the Bridge Park in its initial season.

Research and interview case studies establish that, on average, mature incubators support

roughly 30 entrepreneurs at any given time.16 Nationally, two-thirds of peer organizations host

less than 25 entrepreneurs, while slightly more than a quarter host 25 to 50.17 Therefore it is our

15 Landa, Leticia and Caleb Zigas. La Cocina. Personal Interview. 6 June 2016. 16 "A Review of Selected Incubator Kitchens & Training Restaurants." Pratt Center for Community Development, Fall 2011.

<http://prattcenter.net/sites/default/files/serving_up_innovation.pdf>; Hall, Emma. "Measuring the Economic Impact of a

Nonprofit Small Business Kitchen Incubator: A Case Study of Nuestra Culinary Ventures." University of Pennsylvania, 19 Dec.

2007. <http://repository.upenn.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1009&context=senior_seminar>. 17 "U.S. Kitchen Incubators: An Industry Snapshot" Econsult Solutions, Inc., 5 Aug. 2013.


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expectation that, as subsequent cohorts join the program, the incubator will host about 30

enterprises at full maturity.

Program Regulations and Fees

Detroit Kitchen Connect requires its entrepreneurs to utilize the incubator’s shared kitchen at

least 10 hours per month, a baseline that will include even “heavy hobbyists” who don’t depend

on the enterprise for steady income.18 As access to an industrial kitchen is the most basic form of

support a culinary incubator may provide, requiring that participants utilize this resource will

ensure that those remaining in the program are seriously pursuing entrepreneurial success.

Literature and interviews establish that use rates paid by entrepreneurs utilizing incubator space

are a significant source of revenue, helping to offset costs of operation.19 In 2013, the national

average hourly use fee for kitchen space was $20.82.20 About half (52%) of incubators charged

hourly fees of $10-19,21 like Detroit Kitchen Connect, which currently charges fees ranging from

$10-18 per hour.22 About one-third (36%) of incubators charged hourly rates of $20-29, while

12% charged $30-39.23 About two-thirds of peer incubators nationally charge such fees

monthly.24

Requiring that entrepreneurs spend a certain amount of time in incubator facilities, and charging

for such use by the hour, ensures a base amount of cash flowing each month to the incubator.

The larger the cohort, the greater this revenue stream may become. As the incubator exists to aid

low-income entrepreneurs, however, balancing this need to maximize revenue with the financial

18 Grose, Anika. Detroit Kitchen Connect. Personal Interview. 3 June 2016. 19 "A Review of Selected Incubator Kitchens & Training Restaurants." Pratt Center for Community Development, Fall 2011.

<http://prattcenter.net/sites/default/files/serving_up_innovation.pdf>. 20 "U.S. Kitchen Incubators: An Industry Snapshot" Econsult Solutions, Inc., 5 Aug. 2013.

<http://www.econsultsolutions.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/ESI-SharedKitchenReport_2013.pdf>. 21 Ibid. 22 Grose, Anika. Detroit Kitchen Connect. Personal Interview. 3 June 2016. 23 "U.S. Kitchen Incubators: An Industry Snapshot" Econsult Solutions, Inc., 5 Aug. 2013.

<http://www.econsultsolutions.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/ESI-SharedKitchenReport_2013.pdf>. 24 Ibid.

12

limitations of the entrepreneurs becomes a vital consideration. The literature and interviews

confirmed that, at most, incubators may hope to conserve net deficits. Diversifying the fee

structure may strengthen cash flow without unnecessarily burdening incubator participants.

Six-in-ten incubators varied these rates by hours of use.25 As each entrepreneur will be

expected to utilize the kitchen for at least 10 hours, the incubator may also charge a

higher hourly use fee for the kitchen covering usage above and beyond this 10-hour

mark. Kitchen fees may also vary depending on the storage or equipment needed. For

example, the nearby Union Kitchen (Washington, DC) offers five membership options

charged monthly.26 The lowest monthly rate is $95, offering entrepreneurs access to

“business services” and access to “all revenue-driving services” but not access to any

kitchen space. Charging participants $1,000 more per month at the second-lowest

monthly rate ($1,095) grants entrepreneurs access to the kitchen on nights and weekends,

as well as two storage shelves, in addition to the baseline services offered. The most

expensive monthly rate ($4,000) offers entrepreneurs their own space within the kitchen,

available 24/7, as well as maximum storage, in addition to baseline business and revenue

services.

Advertising incubator space to non-participants and the wider community can bring in

much-needed additional revenue. Creating a distinct pricing structure differentiating

between these two types of users—entrepreneurs and general community members—

allows the incubator to gain additional revenue from those most able to pay. The more

accessibly located the commissary kitchen, the more viable marketing its use to the

general public will be. If the incubator partners with an organization to operate a

commissary kitchen, the definition and separation of ownership rights will inform to what

extent revenue-sharing may occur.

Punitive fees also allow the incubator to discourage undesired behavior. Clean-up fees

may rise in cost each time they are incurred; being charged a clean-up fee for the fourth-

time may result in immediate disqualification from the incubator program or provided

kitchen space. The same punitive fee structure may be applied to non-participant users.

The fee structure is explored in detail below. For additional information, please refer to

Appendix – Detailed Budget Analysis.


<http://www.econsultsolutions.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/ESI-SharedKitchenReport_2013.pdf>. 26 “Union Kitchen Membership Options.” Union Kitchen DC, 2016. <http://unionkitchendc.com/wp-content/uploads/Union-

Kitchen-Membership-Options.pdf>.

13

Table. Proposed Incubator Use Fees

Initial fees

Application fee $20

Deposit $200

Use fees

Kitchen use fee (hourly) (first 10 hours/month) $20

Kitchen use fee (hourly) (11+ hours/month) $22

Kitchen use fee (hourly) (non-participants) $30

Bridge Park retail use fee (hourly) $10

Punitive fees

First-time clean-up fee $50

Second-time clean-up fee $75

Third-time clean-up fee $100

Upon selection, each entrepreneur should sign a membership contract enumerating all rules, fees,

and opportunities established by the incubator. The contract should also identify what would

happen should the entrepreneur not conform to the behavior described on the contract—their

dismissal from the program. Their signature will represent their agreement to abide by these

terms and conditions, helping the incubator limit its own liability in case of any conflict.

Support

The literature establishes that incubators serve to “buffer” entrepreneurs from external threats

and “bridge” entrepreneurs to social and financial capital.27 Incubator programming offering skill

development in managerial and financial activities trains entrepreneurs to act as their own

buffering and bridging agent following their eventual graduation from the program.28

Pre-Launch Training

The majority of incubators across the country (71%) offer compulsory training before allowing

participants to use the incubator space independently.29 As this incubator exists to accelerate the

entrepreneurial goals of low-income individuals who may not have formal education in business

creation and development, the incubator should require that participants complete at least some

training before moving into independent use of the incubator. For each cohort, La Cocina offers

weekly 2-3 hour trainings for a period of six months. The research team recommends adopting

this model, as it satisfies key constraints and drivers shaping the design of a structured training

program.

Internal staff resources and entrepreneurs’ existing responsibilities constrain the amount

of pre-launch training the incubator may offer. Limiting the training to a six-month

27 Amezcua, Alejandro S., Matthew G. Grimes, Steven W. Bradley, and Johan Wiklund. “Organizational Sponsorship and

Founding Environments: A Contingency View on the Survival of Business-Incubated Firms, 1994–2007." Academy of

Management Journal, 56. 6. (2013): 1628-1654. 28 Gaskill, LuAnn Ricketts, Howard E Van Auken, and Ronald A Manning. "A Factor Analytic Study of the Perceived Causes of


<http://search.proquest.com/docview/220986551/fulltextPDF/5A9D96C9799D4701PQ/1?accountid=14214>. 29 "U.S. Kitchen Incubators: An Industry Snapshot" Econsult Solutions, Inc., 5 Aug. 2013.


14

window offered once per cohort, as does La Cocina, would allow incubator staff to most

effectively focus resources.30

The cohort’s entrepreneurs will likely have personal time commitments, including other

jobs that prevent working full-time with the incubator at the start of their involvement.

Limiting instructional time to 2-3 hours per week and assigning a large amount of

homework for entrepreneurs to complete before attending the next session allows

entrepreneurs to work at their own pace. Requiring few in-person hours will allow

individuals with existing responsibilities to customize their involvement around their own

schedule.

The level of skill development needed may vary by entrepreneur and cohort, but the

incubator can assume that all entrepreneurs require managerial and financial training.

Core competencies may include marketing, sales and customer service, pitching and

investor relations, accounting, inventory control, and fraud prevention.31 Incubator staff

won’t hold the expertise necessary to design and implement all aspects of these trainings.

Instead, industry experts should develop this curriculum, tailoring the content and depth

to the unique business needs of the cohort.

Closely related to skill development, the products entrepreneurs produce must also be a

key focus of incubator training. Just as inexperienced entrepreneurs will require more

resources, maturity of the enterprises will also determine the level of intensity of the

training. This training should allow entrepreneurs to finalize recipes and develop systems

that will allow them to scale production, like creating a training manual for future staff or

adding preservatives to increase products’ shelf life.

While industry experts may organize these lessons as best fit the curriculum, the first point of

instruction must allow entrepreneurs to attain the necessary licenses and certificates to safely

handle food.

Establishing liability at the start of an entrepreneur’s involvement with the incubator is

paramount. If any legal action is taken against the entrepreneur or enterprise during an

individual’s incubator participation, the incubator must ensure that the entrepreneur—not

the incubator—is liable. Detroit Kitchen Connect requires that participants individually

purchase a $1 million general liability policy to cover their use of co-insured culinary

facilities, which can range from $300 to $500 per person.32 The vast majority of

incubators (92%) across the country require participants to be covered by such insurance.

33 The research team recommends a similar practice.

Certifying safe food-handling practices is also important to address before allowing

participants to freely access kitchen space, though some more general licenses may be

30 Landa, Leticia and Caleb Zigas. La Cocina. Personal interview. 6 June 2016. 31 Literature analysis confirms these are the major themes needed. 32 Grose, Anika. Detroit Kitchen Connect. Personal Interview. 3 June 2016. 33 "U.S. Kitchen Incubators: An Industry Snapshot" Econsult Solutions, Inc., 5 Aug. 2013.


15

worked toward during participants’ time in the incubator. Almost all (90%) incubators

across the country require participants to pass state or local food-handling certifications.34

The most common certification is the National Restaurant Association’s ServSafe

certification, required by 49% of national incubators.35 This certificate requires a fee of

$195 per person and a one-day training course,36 which could easily be given to the

cohort as a whole. A general business license, if not already held, should also be worked

toward during the pre-launch training.

Hosting a public event marking the entrepreneurs’ completion of this preliminary training and

entrance into the incubator’s production and retail spaces would increase public awareness of the

incubator and strengthen participant enthusiasm. Such an event should showcase the enterprises,

promoting their products to a wider audience. In order to promote the incubator’s reputation, the

event should be scheduled when all showcased businesses are able to offer a polished and well-

tested product. The incubator’s marketing budget will support this event, as it will generate

enthusiasm both for the new businesses and the incubator program itself. In the first year of the

incubator, this launch will most likely coincide with the Bridge Park launch, but may change

depending on timing variabilities. After launching, the incubator will expect entrepreneurs to

work full-time on their ventures.

One-on-One Support

Representing a variety of business maturity levels, products, and personal experiences, each

entrepreneur will have unique needs and goals. These self-defined benchmarks determine what

entrepreneurs will work toward within the incubator. Interviewed peer incubators emphasized

that the level to which staff can customize support to individual entrepreneurs’ needs is a

predictor of incubator success. One successful model of individual support is for incubator staff

to meet one-on-one monthly with entrepreneurs in the early stage of incubation, and then

meeting only quarterly once those businesses are more established. This meeting structure allows

staff to meet participants at their skill level and hold each entrepreneur personally accountable

for their progress.

If incubator staff resources prevent such frequent meetings, the incubator may explore meeting at

a similar frequency in a small group setting, potentially linking businesses up as accountability

partners as they journey thorough the steps to become a successful self-sustaining business.

Regardless of the format, at each meeting, incubator staff should assess how well entrepreneurs

have progressed along self-defined benchmarks of success. Care should be taken at an

organizational level to ensure that incubator staff provide similar levels of support to all

incubator participants, and not simply helping those entrepreneurs who most quickly advance or

demand a higher-than-average level of in-person staff support.

Access to Small Business Technical Assistance

In addition to the pre-launch training facilitated by the Bridge Park Incubator staff, we

recommend that there is a priority in providing access to professional advisors in a variety of

small business areas. The literature discusses the importance of leveraging the resources of

34 Ibid. 35 Ibid. 36 Grose, Anika. Detroit Kitchen Connect. Personal Interview. 3 June 2016.

16

services that include, but are not limited to bookkeepers, pro bono attorneys, and graphic

designers who will assist the entrepreneurs in refining their product and business practices. In

the case of La Cocina, these services were offered for free or at a reduced rate to the incubator

participants, and graduates often came back to use the full rate services of these same advisors.

Access to Capital

Another key element to support the scaling and development of the small business is to ensure

that they have access to capital: loans, grants, and other forms of seed funding so they can make

strategic investments to increase the efficiency, quality, and reach of their products. 37 While this

step is important for all small business, it is of particular interest to low-income entrepreneurs of

color, who often face discrimination in the traditional lending process. Therefore, the Bridge

Park Incubator staff must prioritize early on the development of partnerships with financial

lenders who would be open to providing small business loans to the participants of the incubator.

Potential partners for this include the Washington Area Community Investment Fund (WACIF),

Latino Economic Development Center (LEDC), and City First Bank. For additional potential

partners and information on the services they offer, please refer to the Small Business Resource

Appendix provided at the end of this report.

Space One of the hallmark components of any incubator be it food, general small business, or

technology, is the access to makerspaces that would be unavailable to any entrepreneur working

individually. These makerspaces vary across industry and size and scale of each distinct

incubator. In the food incubator context, there is at minimum access to training facilities,

commercial-grade kitchen facility, and connections to retail opportunities.

As we envision both the kiosks and the kitchen spaces to be shared by a variety of businesses, a

key recommendation is for the adoption of a online reservation system that can be used to

manage access to the kitchen, retail facilities, and any other shared spaces (such as conference

rooms), that will be offered by the incubator. This type of system is used throughout the country

at both La Cocina in San Francisco and Hot Bread Kitchen in New York City. Additional

research is needed to identify that exact system that will meet the needs of this incubator, as both

of their systems are custom made.

Kitchen Access

At the heart of the food incubator model is the shared kitchen space that is open for hourly

rentals at a subsidized rate by incubator participants and at a higher rate by private business who

provide an influx of capital to ensure operational sustainability. If the Bridge Park Incubator

kitchen is operated by a third party, it will be of utmost importance to identify other forms of

revenue generation to cover costs associated with kitchen operations.

Factors to consider include:

1) Scheduling considerations: Every kitchen incubator has to contend on how to maximize

limited kitchen space among a variety of businesses. The most common system used by



17

incubators such as La Cocina and Hot Bread Kitchen in New York City, is an online

reservation system that can be used to book kitchen space (as well as retail space) among

incubator participants. This takes away the need for incubator staff to create and maintain

schedules, and enhances entrepreneur’s flexibility. Additionally these two programs

provide 24/7 key card access to their kitchen which allows the space to expand in its

operational hours and allow different kinds of businesses to use the kitchen at distinct

times. As an example at La Cocina, bakers populate the early morning hours of 3:00-

6:00am, food trucks were active between 8:00-11:00am, and one-off companies that

needed more space like artisanal cholate producers came in during the afternoons.38

2) Usage Expectations: As noted above, a minimum of 10 hours of monthly kitchen time

per incubator participant is expected, however it is also important to note how many

heavy users you will have in each co-hort. This can also be a driver for how many

businesses are let in at any one time, but a more mature reservation system may be able to

work around that need by identifying lower-use times for more flexible businesses.

3) Commissary vs. Incubator Participants: Full-rate kitchen users are an almost non-

negotiable component of every kitchen incubator because they provided a much needed

influx of unrestricted funds to maintain the subsided incubator operations (such as utility

bills) that may not be covered by grant funding. While demand for the facility will

determine the level of flexibility incubator staff have on accepting these business, one

scheduling consideration used by La Cocina is to select businesses who naturally seek to

use the kitchen when incubator participants do not. Depending on the operational

feasibility and funding structure of the ultimate kitchen incubator, it may be advised to

allow the first cohort to experience the kitchen before full rate users are invited to apply.

4) Kitchen Size and Preparation Stations: In a comprehensive study of incubators

nationwide, it was reported that the average incubator runs in size between 2000 and

4000 square feet and has on average three to four distinct kitchen stations that are shared

between all kitchen users. 39 While some kitchens delineate the prep areas for specific

types of production such as a bakery station, frying station, etc. given the high occupancy

of these kitchens, a best practice appears to be to offer general reservable preparation

stations where users can access the specific equipment they need, both in regards to

communal or private equipment. We recommend the adoption of general stations for the

Bridge Park Incubator to allow for maximum flexibility.

5) Kitchen Equipment & Security Systems: In the table below we compiled common kitchen

equipment and facilities provided by food incubators nationwide. We do not necessarily

recommend for the Bridge Park Incubator to purchase all of the kitchen equipment

upfront because it is very cost intensive and there is no need for equipment without

demand from entrepreneurs, however we wanted to include the common components of

commercial kitchens. Of particular note is the importance of a security system and the

38 Landa, Leticia and Caleb Zigas. La Cocina. Personal interview. 6 June 2016. 39 Allen, Annabelle, Junpei Guo, Jessica Tupper, and Zengyizhou (Josie) Xu. "Rainier Beach Food Innovation Center: Kitchen



18

ability to safely store personal belongings. There are many ways that this can be done,

and we have included La Cocina model as a best practice, because it effectively works for

their high volume kitchen of low-income entrepreneurs.

The incubator may also expand entrepreneurs’ access to production spaces by creating affiliate

kitchen partnerships with churches, community centers, and schools that already have industrial

kitchens that produce food for the public and have the required permits to do so.40 Given the

large number of such spaces in the walkshed of the Bridge Park, this is a proven strategy for

growth, but cannot replace the main incubator kitchen facility.

Based on the above considerations, we believe that the Incubator Kitchen should be between

2,000 and 4,000 square feet and have a minimum of three preparation stations that incubator

participants have close to 24/7 access to this space, even if it is a shared use kitchen with other

programs. Our research suggests that all entrepreneurs will need to use the kitchen for a

minimum of 10 hours a month, and so setting up the expectation for around the clock access,

even if not needed at first, will be important of ensuring that there is sufficient space as the

incubator scales in size.

Retail Access

The incubator must also connect entrepreneurs to retail opportunities to build brand awareness

and to earn the revenue that is required for them to be able to successfully scale their businesses

and graduate from the incubator. After much consideration, we believe that the 11th Street Bridge

Park should serve as a central opportunity for the incubator participant, but due to weather

limitations and the expectation that as a destination location that there will not be consistently

high enough foot traffic to justify full-time operations of the kiosk businesses. In this section we

discuss consideration for designing and operating the kiosks as well as ideas about potential

other retail partner opportunities for incubator participants.

40 Grose, Anika. Detroit Kitchen Connect. Personal Interview. 3 June 2016.

Item Description

Preparation Stations Stainless steel worktables and sinks, Stainless steel shelves,

pan racks, sheet pans, mobile stainless steel worktables, food

processor, dishwasher

Commercial Kitchen

Equipment

Tilting skillet, steamer, convection ovens, broiler, 6-burner

range, fryer, and mixer

Security System Cameras located in the main kitchen and in the walk-in

refrigerator and freezers.

Personal Storage Lockers or large cages that allow incubator participants to

have storage for personal equipment and belongings when they

are not onsite

Key Card Access Allows incubator participants to access the kitchen according

to their own schedules and allows the system to track who is

using the kitchen for liability purposes

19

It is important to create a retail environment that sets up incubator participants to succeed, while

creating an engaging public space for park attendees. The design of the retail kiosks and the

retail space of the park should reflect both of these priorities. First, the mix of businesses using

the kiosks should be considered as their unique needs may differ. All kiosk-using businesses,

whether food or non-food, likely require electricity and wireless internet access for credit card

transaction processing. Food-based businesses may need water and waste-water access, and

larger trash cans with regular collection service. All vendors may require storage, either at the

kiosk or in a “staff only” area of the park. Food vendors may require refrigeration of food in

these storage spaces. These considerations may be used in designing of the café kitchen space

and the retail space.

While the suggested model recommends food businesses in the kiosks for the first year, the

Bridge Park may consider designs for non-food businesses to accommodate for expansion of

business types beyond the first year. Maximum flexibility with park retail management may

allow for the greatest success of the retail operations.

Because of the uniqueness of this project, park attendance traffic patterns are difficult to predict

currently. They may be seasonal. They may vary week-to-week. They may vary within the

week. Because kiosk design must take place before traffic patterns can be discovered once the

park opens, Bridge Park leadership may wish to make kiosks mobile. This allows empty kiosks

to be removed from the park and stored away from the public during times of low attendance,

such as during long winter closures or low attendance weeks. By removing unused kiosks, the

overall retail environment avoids any the public developing perceptions that the retail space is

unsuccessful or underutilized. Consideration should also be given to how and where kiosks are

stored in private spaces. They may need to be collapsible or module enough to be easily

transportable and storable. Kiosk mobility allows the most flexibility for Bridge Park leadership

to change space configurations for special events, such as holiday shopping bazars, pop-up

shops, or trunk shows.

Kiosks design should account for changing businesses on a daily basis. This proposed model

allows for incubator businesses to schedule their selling time in the retail space. Each business

should be able to change out signage for their business. Some businesses may wish to display

products in front of the register, while others want all products displayed behind the register.

Display spaces should be changeable to account for the different types of products being sold.

For example, shelf heights should be flexible. By allowing for different configurations of each

kiosk, leadership allows for a greater range of business types to sell on the Bridge Park.

Moreover, kiosks can be easily reused each season. The Bridge Park will not need to buy

additional modules or parts due to changes in the mix of incubator businesses

By making these kiosks mobile and flexible to account for different business types, the Bridge

Park can support the needs of kiosk businesses while creating an engaging environment for park

attendees.

Given the expectation that many businesses will use these kiosks, we encourage the usage of the

online reservation system to be used to manage the operations of the kiosk in any particular day.

We believe participants in their first year of the incubator should be given priority access in

reserving the kiosks as they will need the most supported retail opportunities, and then to open it

20

up to those in their second and third year who will ideally have developed additional retail

relationships.

The Bridge Park may also schedule entrepreneurial and tourist programming around these

kiosks. Some programming may be tailored to the needs of incubator participants and advertised

internally, such as hours when business school students and local mentors are present in the

Bridge Park retail space. Other programming may be designed to attract tourists, like holiday

hours.

Diverse Retail Opportunities

While we view the Bridge Park as a central opportunity for incubator participants, seasonal

limitations and varying foot traffic expectations, necessitate the development of additional

partnerships for the entrepreneurs to showcase and sell their products. Providing a variety of

retail opportunities with different target audiences also works to expand the brand awareness of

their products.41

Potential retail partners include:

1) Eastern Market – The indoor section of Eastern Market can provide year-round

opportunities for entrepreneurs to sell their products. As it is located within the 1 mile

walkshed west of the Bridge Park, it should be a priority for partnership. As the oldest

operating market in the DC area, entrepreneurs could truly benefit from its loyal clientele

and storied reputation.

2) Union Kitchen – A full service food incubator located in NE DC, Union Kitchen can

provide access to an indoor marketplace with rentable stalls, distribution services, and the

opportunity to provide products for their catering events. There are a variety of

membership levels and pricing available for entrepreneurs and could meet the needs of a

variety of Bridge Park incubator members.

3) City-Wide Farmers Markets – Although farmers markets have the same seasonality

concerns present on the Bridge Park, a variety of more centrally located markets operate

during lunchtime hours and thus may offer higher foot traffic. Entrepreneurs operating in

this central markets could additionally serve as marketing for the Bridge Park itself,

enticing that audience to experience the Park and its varied offerings.

3. Graduation Graduation is a culmination of investment in the incubator. Just as the entrepreneur’s progression

through the incubator is personally determined, so too will be the entrepreneur’s graduation from

the incubator—to a point. One-on-one support allows the entrepreneur to define a benchmark

capturing their ability to function independently, without the support of the incubator’s facilities

and resources. The literature suggests that a good indicator is when business revenue is above

$250,000 annually.42 Regular meetings allow staff to determine both how efficiently

41 Grose, Anika. Detroit Kitchen Connect. Personal Interview. 3 June 2016. 42 "A Review of Selected Incubator Kitchens & Training Restaurants." Pratt Center for Community Development, Fall 2011.

<http://prattcenter.net/sites/default/files/serving_up_innovation.pdf>.

21

entrepreneurs are progressing to this point and whether the provided space and support meets the

entrepreneurs’ needs. Once staff and entrepreneur both agree that he or she has reached that

benchmark of self-defined success that enterprise will exit from the incubator. While the time to

graduation may vary, the incubator should communicate an expectation that entrepreneurs exit

after three years.

We recommend that in order to preserve the Bridge Park kiosks as a primary opportunity for

incubator participants, once graduated, entrepreneurs will no longer have access to selling their

products at the kiosks except on special occasion events. In this realm we see a connection the

Equitable Development Plan Small Business Strategy #1 (“Support and nurture a thriving

network of small businesses that operate on the Bridge Park following construction”) connects to

Strategy #2 (“Leverage the 11th Street Bridge Park to build and sustain small businesses in the

surrounding community”). While each business will determine their next steps in alignment with

their business plan, we suggest that incubator staff prioritize assisting those who wish to locate

their business in the Anacostia community either in their own independent retail storefront or

perhaps a market that showcases a variety of businesses’ products. While the exact plan will be

developed overtime, strategically planning to onboard graduates into the surrounding Southeast

neighborhoods clearly marries the distinct EDP goals.

Across the board, food incubators acknowledge that successful graduates are one of their key

ambassadors to getting financial and community support for the continued operations of the

incubator. 43 And therefore we suggest developing an expectation early-on that all future alumni

will give back to the incubator in the methods that best fit that business. Opportunities to be

involved include: serving as mentors, trainers, subject matter experts, recruiters and selection

committee members, board members, and guest speaker at fundraising events. At La Cocina,

some of the graduates simply became full-rate members of the kitchen incubator, which we

consider to be a best practice. Nevertheless, regardless of how graduated businesses chose to be

involved, it is without a doubt in line with the values of this communal space, that successful

graduates will indeed remain connected to the Bridge Park.

43 Hall, Emma. "Measuring the Economic Impact of a Nonprofit Small Business Kitchen Incubator: A Case Study of Nuestra

Culinary Ventures." University of Pennsylvania, 19 Dec. 2007.

<http://repository.upenn.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1009&context=senior_seminar>.

22

ORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURE

A variety of organizational structures may be adopted to manage, train, and scale the

entrepreneurs who will participate in the incubator. This section covers best practices in

incubator management and highlights potential partners that could facilitate this process in the

one-mile walkshed east and west of the Bridge Park.

Incubator Managing Organization

This is the entity—business or non-profit—that will manage the incubator program from

applicant selection to incubation to graduation. The timeline and resources needed to achieve the

launch date of summer 2019 will vary depending on the selection of this partner.

1) Existing incubator with experience in scaling small food businesses: An already

operational incubator such as Union Kitchen could expand to establish a shared kitchen

in the Bridge Park walkshed area. Moving forward with such a partner would secure

functional expertise in the operational management of the incubator and shared use of

facilities. Such a partner would also bring an existing network of retail partners that could

benefit the Anacostia-area entrepreneurs. If this option was pursued, the incubator would

need to commit to prioritizing hiring internally local employees and those in lower-

income brackets.

2) DC-area nonprofit with experience in culinary arts or entrepreneurship: A local

nonprofit already working in the Anacostia area would provide community expertise,

trust, and understanding of the needs of this specific population. Nonprofits such as DC

Central Kitchen or the Goodwill of Greater Washington could leverage institutional

resources and name recognition to successfully establish a new program. However, their

leadership of this incubator would require them to hire small business experts as

incubator staff, as these organizations do not currently scale up entrepreneurial ventures.

3) New nonprofit: If existing nonprofits do not have the capacity to expand their scope and

offer this new program, there may be need to create a new entity to run the incubator. To

save resources, this nonprofit should seek to sit under the umbrella of a fiscal sponsor

such as Building Bridges Across the River. Such an approach would ensure that the

incubator would be the sole focus of nonprofit staff but at the expense of institutional

knowledge and experience sought by funders.

Kitchen Use

The Bridge Park staff must also determine whether the incubator should use an existing or

planned kitchen operated by another organization for its main commissary kitchen or if the

incubator needs to purchase and build its own facilities to operate this program.

Shared Operations of Existing or Planned Kitchen

1) Far Southeast Family Strengthening Collaborative (FSFSC) Culinary Training Kitchen:

If built, this facility would be the ideal partner for the Food Incubator due its close

proximity to the Bridge Park and the fact that the new facility could potentially house the

co-working space to provide onsite offices, conference rooms, and classrooms for the

23

incubator entrepreneurs. If this option is pursued, it is necessary to ensure that a sufficient

level of kitchen space (a minimum of 3 prep stations) is reserved for incubator use.

2) St Elizabeth’s East Gateway DC Kitchen: Although a 1.2 miles from the Bridge Park, the

already built Gateway DC kitchen could be an ideal option for the incubator kitchen

facilities. While it may be a more expensive option than the FSFSC space, it would most

likely be much more affordable than building a new kitchen facility from the ground up.

Also if the space was primarily the purview of the incubator, this would reduce kitchen

scheduling challenges. As well, the co-location of services at St Elizabeth’s may also

provide an opportunity for selling the incubator’s products onsite. However, if this option

was pursued, there would need to be a plan for transporting wares to the Bridge Park

3) Culinary Training Kitchen at Building Bridges Across the River Headquarters: What still

in the ideation phase, the location of the kitchen incubator in proximity to many other

nonprofit services could increase the profile and community awareness of this new

opportunity. While it is certainly possible for the incubator to share space with additional

programs, designers should ensure that there is sufficient space so that the entrepreneurs

can still have 24/7 access to the kitchen. If this idea progress, we encourage additional

research into the CommonWealth Kitchen model in Dorchester, Massachusetts, which

houses both a culinary training program and food incubator. Their model in fact blends

the two together and uses the culinary trainees as staff for the entrepreneurs’ businesses.

Establishment of New Kitchen

The most expensive option is to open a new kitchen space for the incubator. In order to attract

full rates tenants, this facility may need to exist on the Navy Yard side rather than the Anacostia

side of the Bridge Park. However we note that this may disincentivize participation from

Anacostia residents, so this decision must be made with holistic considerations for the financial

sustainability of the incubator and its mission. Start-up costs varied throughout the literature

depending on community property values and the size and scope of the facility itself. For

example, the Pacific Gateway Center in Honolulu, HI, built a 20,000 square foot facility and

reported capital costs of $5 million. and the proposed Rainier Beach Food Incubator in Seattle,

WA, projects costs of $8 million.44

If no existing partners have the capacity to open kitchen space or run the organization, Bridge

Park leadership should consider the possibility of creating a cultural arts small business incubator

instead of a food-based incubator, as the former incurs significantly lower costs. While it is

beyond the scope of the report to go into significant detail regarding this alternative option, this

incubator would only require office space and studio space, compared to the kitchen facility

needed for the culinary incubator. Furthermore, cultural arts products would not require

consideration of perishability and safe storage, unlike food served outdoors.




24

Staffing Needs

A majority of peer incubators warned against beginning an incubator with a too-large operational

budget, unsustainable from a fundraising perspective. While this incubator would ideally host a

variety of staff offering diverse expertise, the literature reveals that, on average, one to three staff

run incubators in their initial start-up years. With these lessons in mind, we recommend that the

incubator begin operations with two staff members: a Program Director and a Culinary Director.

1) The Program Director (PD) will serve as the organizational leader of the incubator.

Although this role will at first exclusively supervise the Culinary Director, as

operations begin to scale, the PD will serve as the primary supervisor of additional

staff members. The PD should also serve as the incubator’s operational and

partnership developer, ensuring that all of components, especially around marketing

and fundraising are continually occurring. An individual with experience in

supervision, management, partnership development, and with an existing network in

the DC area small business community will most successfully execute this role.

2) The Culinary Director (CD) will serve as the hands-on manager of daily incubator

operations providing the staffing support on business planning and product

development for the entrepreneurs. The Culinary Director will manage entrepreneurs’

selection, training, support, and access to retail and credit. The Culinary Director will

manage entrepreneurs’ shared access to kitchen facilities and the procurement of any

resources—food or capital—that entrepreneurs need to produce, store, and transfer

their culinary creations. The Culinary Director also establishes and maintains

partnerships with any affiliate kitchen space the incubator may use. A successful

Culinary Director will have kitchen management experience, excellent people skills,

and the ability to facilitate workshops and one-on-one meetings.

Partnership Development 25%

Pre-Incubation Training

Coordination25%

Fundraising 25%

Administrative15%

Marketing 10%

PROGRAM DIRECTOR'S RESPONSIBILITIES

25

Based on industry standards and DC nonprofit salaries, we estimate the following costs

associated with hiring these two positions. Additional detailed information can be found in

Appendix – Detailed Budget Analysis.

Line Item Cost

Program Director $65,000

Culinary Director $55,000

Insurance per employee $4,000-$5,000

Retirement Contribution per employee $5,000

Total $140,000

This staffing recommendation depends largely on the incubator’s level of administrative

independence. If no parent organization can host this incubator, another staff member may be

needed to handle strictly administrative tasks.

Office and Training Headquarters

While in many cases the kitchen facility and incubator staff headquarters are in the same

physical space, throughout the country this relationship varies depending on the existing options

in each community. Regardless, the incubator must find a location to contain an internal staff

office, training classroom, and conference room facilities and office space rentable to incubator

participants.

1) Incubator Staff Office Space: At minimum, the two incubator staff need a space to

conduct business, build connections, and coordinate the implementation of the business

incubator. Both staff members will need offices that are ideally located onsite of the

kitchen facility to encourage both formal and informal meetings with the incubator

entrepreneurs. If onsite kitchen office space is not feasible, we recommend that the staff

rent space from an existing nonprofit or co-working space to reduce costs. Regardless of

the formal office setup, given the nature of the Culinary Director’s role it will be

expected that they spend the majority of their time at the kitchen facility.

Pre-Incubator Training Facilitaiton

25%

Kitchen Facility Management

25%

Incubator Participant

Support 50%

CULINARY DIRECTOR'S RESPONSIBILITES

26

2) Training Room: It required that there is a space for the pre-launch training to occur,

ideally in a setting where the entrepreneurs have access to computer, printer, and other

office supplies. La Cocina reported that over half of their training occurred in the kitchen

as the entrepreneurs worked on product development. However, as we recommend that

the Bridge Park Incubator offer workshops on general business skills, a more traditional

office meeting room would also be extremely useful in the dissemination of the technical

assistance.

3) Entrepreneurs’ Co-Working Space: As many entrepreneurs may currently be working out

of their home, providing low cost workspace and meeting rooms that can be rented by

participants is an ideal offering. In case studies conducted in the literature, many

incubator managers lamented the lack of rentable board space that their entrepreneur

participants could use for investor and client meetings.45 As the facility is already created

and centrally located, we suggest that the Incubator staff develop a partnership with The

Hive 2.0 in Anacostia which could provide this space.




27

METRICS AND GOVERNANCE

Based on interviews and publically-available incubator evaluation information, several

measurement criteria have been developed for each major area of work – recruitment, selection,

incubation, graduation, and alumni engagement. These will assist stakeholders in understanding

the development and success of the incubator.

One measure identified in literature is the Incubator Success Ratio. This is defined as the ratio of

businesses “graduating” from the incubator versus the number that fail while in incubation.46

This is able to be measured without much effort and can be measured over time. This shows

effectiveness of incubating. Measures that extend this evaluation include number of community

residents employed in current and “graduated” incubation participants. Similarly, revenue

generation can be used to evaluate the success of participants. As the incubator matures, it can

measure how long “graduated” businesses remain open after leaving the incubator. This requires

greater alumni engagement and tracking. Some measures require tools, such as satisfaction

surveys, to find the measures of how well the incubator supports its businesses through

programming and resource provision. These surveys can be conducted with incubator

participants after initial training and again after graduation. Other measures may require more

in-depth tools, such as exit interviews, to determine underlying causes of why measures are

changing.

The literature also emphasizes the importance of strong organizational governance in regards

financial management, transparency, and soliciting and incorporating participant and community

feedback. At this time, we are unable to provide concrete recommendations for the governance

of the incubator due to the uncertainty of the organizational partner. However, we do recommend

that once the partner selected that intentionally developing governance expectations and policies

be an initial priority. Please refer to Appendix C for additional information on metrics available

to the incubator for evaluating its effectiveness. Incubator leadership should consider this as a

starting place and should alter or add measures as appropriate.

46 Hackett, Sean M., David M. Dilts. "A Systematic Review of Business Incubation Research." The Journal of Technology

Transfer, 29, (2004): 55-82. <http://link.springer.com/article/10.1023%2FB%3AJOTT.0000011181.11952.0f>.

28

CONCLUSION

This report contains a variety of considerations and recommendations to create a dynamic,

supportive, and successful food incubator for residents in the one-mile walkshed of the

11th Street Bridge Park. We believe that this food incubator has a great possibility of making a

positive impact on the lives of the participants and will have larger economic impacts on the

Southeast community as a whole. In order to make this culinary incubator a reality, Bridge Park

leadership must swiftly begin the process of definitively selecting partners who will serve as

organizational sponsors of the food incubator and the commercial grade kitchen.

Next steps include:

Developing an MOU with a local small business technical advisor to provide ideation

support to potential applicants of the Bridge Park Incubator

Determining a kitchen facility and developing a business plan to ensure operational and

fiscal sustainability

Selecting a sponsoring organization for the food incubator, with considerations on the

level small business and culinary expertise of the organization

Deciding the initial design of the kiosk space on the Bridge Park in conjunction with the

architect

29

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32

APPENDIX

This appendix contains six pieces:

A) Timeline Narrative

B) Budget Narrative

C) Washington, DC Area Small Business Resources

D) Data Collection and Metrics

E) Case Study Interviews

F) Kiosk Designs

33

Appendix A: Timeline

This proposal offers a high-level timeline for implementation. The attached project plan shows a

suggested sequence of large projects with tasks identified underneath. Some tasks contain

subtasks embedded underneath that. These tasks and subtasks are identified as significant and

necessary to fulfill the larger milestones identified in the gray bars. Based on communications

with Bridge Park leadership, that date will occur in late 2019. For the purposes of planning, this

timeline sets the Bridge Park opening in September 2019.

Timings center on the opening date of the park. From that date in 2019, the timing works

backwards to allow sufficient time to conduct the programming necessary to provide

programming for incubator businesses to operate at a level to provide food services in the park

kiosks. It also provides guidance on timings for kiosk design, construction, and setup for

businesses. The timeline suggests timings for the second cohort of incubator participants to vend

on the park. Should the opening date change significantly, the timeline should be adjusted. Task

orderings and durations can remain consistent but shifted sooner or later, depending on the

opening date.

The sequence of events is important.

Since the park is not scheduled to open until 2019, sufficient time is given to not only conduct an

entire year of business incubation, but to provide a year of ideation for potential incubation

participants. This allows a potential pool of incubator recruitment to begin forming early,

ensuring a higher probability of recruiting enough participants and participants better prepared to

enter the incubator. For this to occur, an ideation partner must be identified while also

identifying an incubator partner. For one year of ideation programming to conclude prior to the

beginning of an incubation process, a partner should be identified and MOU signed prior to June

2017.

Milestones regarding the incubation partner are included. The kitchen selection and incubation

partner identification should occur by June 2017. This gives the partner time for office

preparation and recruitment before launching the incubator application in May 2018. From

there, the incubator can select participants, conduct training and programming before participants

set up in the park kiosks in September 2019. While the first cohort is in progress, the incubation

partner should begin recruiting for the second cohort with a following application, selection, and

programming. This timeline offers a suggested start time of February 2019 to begin recruitment,

with application and selection occurring exactly one year after the first cohort – in March 2019

and August 2019, respectively.

Finally, the timeline offers guidance for kiosk design, construction, installation, and set up prior

to the park’s opening. It is assumed that kiosk businesses will operate on the park from

approximately April through October or November each season. Additional events, such as

December holiday events, may provide further selling opportunities, but these are not accounted

for in this timeline. Also, kiosk closure and storage for winter closing periods are not included,

as those may be heavily influenced by unpredictable weather conditions.

34

Equitable Development Plan Timeline

35

Appendix B: Budget

This proposal includes two budgets – one for the incubator, and one for the Bridge Park’s kiosk

related activities. These are intended to illustrate the primary revenue and expense drivers for

the related responsibilities of both entities.

The first budget offers a sample budget for an incubator partner. The budget contains revenue

drivers, such as grants, application fees, kitchen use fees, and clean up fees. It uses the fee rates

offered in this report as the basis for revenue calculations. It offers sample use amounts for these

services. This budget also includes cost drivers, such as incubator employee salaries and

benefits, facility leasing and maintenance costs, programming costs, and other back office

expenses. Both revenue and cost drivers are built upon a model of incubator participant intake

and sustainability through the first nine incubation cohorts of the incubator’s life. Participant

growth will start with an initial intake of eight participants and increase this over time. The

incubator participants will grow to a maximum level of thirty participants, each at different

levels of incubation. These growth rates underpin the revenue generation and programming cost

models presented in the budget. The budgetary Excel spreadsheet included as a separate

deliverable allows for these growth rates to be edited, creating dynamic budget models for the

incubation partner to predict revenues and expenses at different growth and graduation rates.

The second budget focuses on the revenue and expenses for the Bridge Park of adding the retail

kiosks to the Bridge Park. This is a much simpler budget. The primary revenue driver is the use

fees collected from kiosk businesses. The primary cost is the kiosks themselves and the

expenses associated with operating them, such as utilities, kiosk maintenance, and

improvements. This budget does not include any additional park maintenance services needed to

empty trashcans and collect litter caused kiosks used by food-based businesses. Bridge Park

leadership may consider this increased demand when negotiating a park maintenance contract.

36

37

38

39

40

Organization Program Title Services Offered

Anacostia Business

Improvement District

- Local marketing, Resource coordination for Anacostia based businesses

(technology, façade improvement, street cleaning), Tourism support

Anacostia Economic

Development Corporation

AEDC Business Center

An affiliate of the DC

Small Business

Development Center run

by Howard University.

There are additional

headquarters throughout

the District.

Free of cost business consulting in: cash flow analysis, financial forecasting,

market research, federal and local government certification, procurement

assistance, overall business assessment, start-up feasibility analysis, business

plan development, and strategic planning

Business training courses in: marketing, finances, managing your service and

retail business, accounting and record keeping, cash management, federal and

local government certification, etc.

ARCH Development

Corporation

Eat Shop Live Anacostia

(ESLA)

Publicity and marketing to grow and promote Southeast based businesses.

AU Center for Innovation in the

Capital

Project 500 Providing hands on training, capacity building, mentoring, and networking to

500 minority or women-owned businesses between 2016 and 2019.

Barracks Row Main Streets - Local marketing, Façade improvements, Comprehensive streetscape plan, Clean

and safe teams, Real estate opportunities.

Capital Area Asset Builders Money Management

Classes

Targeted at individuals rather than businesses, this provides a comprehensive

suite of classes to help individuals improve their financial management skills.

May be an important pre-start-up step for some interested entrepreneurs.

Capital Riverfront BID Marketing, Branding &

Special Events

While BIDs provide a host of function, of most use will be their marketing and

branding of events and opportunities which could support the launching of

entrepreneurs’ ventures.

City First Enterprises

Impact Investing &

Crowdfunding

Impact Investing: Provides Small Business loans between $50,000 and

$350,000. Including: lines of credit, term loans, and working capital.

Crowdfunding: Developing new avenues to flow capital into mission-oriented

projects and small businesses

Appendix C: Washington, DC Area Small Business Resources

41

Congress Heights Community

Training & Development Corp.

Great Streets Business

Leadership Council

Small business technical assistance and microloan applications for up to

$25,000 for business owners

Congress Heights Main Streets - Coordinator of Ward 8 Business Council – An important convener of key SE

stakeholders. Also offers: Façade improvements, Community involvement

opportunities, Business technical assistance, Marketing assistance

DC Mayor’s Office on Planning

and Economic Development

Retail and Great Streets DC Collateral Support Program, DC Loan Participation Program, Opportunities

to receive funding for façade and capital improvements

The Hilltop Microfinance

Initiative

*Run by Georgetown

University Students*

Small Business Loans &

Financial Coaching

Small Business Loans: Offers loans ranging from $500 - $10,000 at an interest

rate of 6% for a term period of 6 months to 24 months.

Financial Coaching: Offers general workshops to assist individuals in managing

their personal and business finances. They have the capacity to tailor resources

to the specific needs of an individual client

The Hive 2.0 Membership Services Co-working space, including desks and conference rooms available for rent.

Also provides a seven week intensive entrepreneurship training course, which

could work well as a possible ideation pathway into the Bridge Park Incubator.

Greater Washington Hispanic

Chamber of Commerce

DC SmallBiz Mentorship

Program

Working exclusively with Hispanic owned business, the Chamber provides

mentorship and business planning support.

Latino Economic Development

Center

Small Business

Development &

Microloans

Small Business Workshops: How to Start a Business (in Spanish)

One-on-One Business Coaching: On a variety of small business topics

Microloans: Provides loans of $5,000 - $50,000 for diverse entrepreneurs who

may have difficulty accessing capital from mainstream lenders

University of the District of

Columbia

Center for Urban

Entrepreneurship

Open exclusively to UDC students, UDC Professors provides technical support

to potential small business owners.

Washington Area Community

Investment Fund

General Programming Provides loans and financing options, Business consulting services, and

Trainings on topics such as SWOT Analysis.

Washington, DC Economic

Partnership

City-wide Business

Development

Site location & assistance, Partnership development, Data & research,

Educational seminars, Conferences & events, Mentorship Program

42

Appendix D: Data Collection & Metrics

Activity Metrics Effectiveness

Recruitment

and Selection

- Number of applicants from within 1-mile

walkshed

- Number of applicants from the Anacostia

neighborhood

These measure the yield effectiveness of recruiting campaigns,

and whether the campaigns are targeting the appropriate

geographic communities.

- Attributes/demographics of applicants

- Income and wealth levels of accepted

applicants

This measures whether recruiting campaigns are targeting the

appropriate demographic communities, namely low-income

residents. Additionally, if income and wealth levels are measured,

this provides a pre-incubator snapshot to compare with graduates

and alumni of the incubator program. This gives one long-term

measure for the effectiveness of the incubator program for

increasing income and wealth of participants.

- The amount of advertising and recruitment

required to get sufficient number of recruits

These measure how many resources are needed to gain a sufficient

yield of recruits. These can be compared year-to-year to estimate

future resources needed for recruiting.

Incubation

Training

- Number of entrepreneurs who complete the

training on time

This provides a process measurement to evaluate effectiveness of

program management.

- Satisfaction surveys of incubation participants This measures participant engagement and quality of the

incubation training. These can be compared year-to-year to

evaluate long-term satisfaction with the training. Surveys may

request ideas for future trainings and how current trainings can be

improved. These can help improve training over time.

Incubation - Number (or percent) of entrepreneurs that fail

while in incubation

- Reasons for entrepreneur’s failure

This measures participant failure rates, which can be tracked over

time. Exit interviews provide more in-depth analysis and assist in

discovering the reasons for the failure.

43

- Number of people employed by the

entrepreneurs

- Number of people hired by entrepreneurs

while participating in program

By tracking the number of people within each business at the

beginning of incubation and the number hired while in the

program, the incubator can measure impact on employment in the

community. This can be used as an argument for incubator

effectiveness.

- Cost of program per entrepreneurs

- Cost of program per person employed by

entrepreneurs

Tracking costs per entrepreneur allow for comparisons of the

business startup costs of incubator participants versus non-assisted

businesses. Similarly, costs per participant’s employees allows for

comparison with other community job creation programs.

Incubation

(Continued)

- Dollar Amount Raised by Entrepreneurs:

-Debt Capital

-Equity Capital

-Grant Funds

These measure whether the incubator is providing sufficient

opportunities for participants to gain capital and funds from

outside sources. Similarly, this may indicate whether the

incubator makes businesses more attractive to investors.


incubation process and resources. These can be compared year-to-

year to evaluate long-term satisfaction with the incubator.

Surveys could ask for what the entrepreneurs both like and dislike

in the program and facilities. Requests for improvements can help

the incubator adjust to participant needs.

Graduation

from

Incubator

- Total number (and percent) of graduates of

program

This is the ultimate measure of incubator success. This measures

program effectiveness and how well the incubator is meeting its

mission.

- Total number (and percent) of incubated

businesses that are still operating, have been

merged, or acquired after 1 year / 5 years / etc.

from graduation

This measures how well the incubator prepares businesses for

long-term success after graduation. It may also indicate whether

the incubator is bringing in participants that have sustainable or

scalable business concepts, and whether participants have

entrepreneurial skills.

44

- Number of people employed by all graduated

firms

This provides a measure for how well incubated businesses and

the incubator are providing positive employment effects in the

community.

- Dollar Amount Raised by Entrepreneurs:

-Debt Capital

-Equity Capital

-Grant Funds

These measure whether the incubator is providing sufficient

opportunities for participants to gain capital and funds from

outside sources. Similarly, this may indicate whether the

incubator makes businesses more attractive to investors.


incubation process and resources. These can be compared year-to-

year to evaluate long-term satisfaction with the incubator. Exit

interviews may provide more detailed information.

45

Appendix E: Case Study Interviews

The research team interviewed two peer culinary incubators—La Cocina (San Francisco, CA)

and Detroit Kitchen Connect (DKC) (Detroit, MI). The team lightly edited the resulting

transcripts, included below.

La Cocina (San Francisco, CA)

Interview with Leticia Landa, Program Director and Caleb Zigas, Executive Director

Organizational Information

What is your mission?

The mission of La Cocina is to cultivate low income food entrepreneurs as they formalize and

grow their businesses by providing affordable commercial kitchen space, industry-specific

technical assistance and access to market opportunities. We focus primarily on women from

communities of color and immigrant communities. Our vision is that entrepreneurs gain financial

security by doing what they love to do, creating an innovative, vibrant and inclusive economic

landscape.

How do you measure the success of your program?

We measure success based on the business viability of participants. The way we talk about our

program and do data collection is related to our theory of change. It is the if-then statement: if

you provide low-income entrepreneurs with access to capital, then they will be able to develop

successful businesses. We consider our inputs to be measured in hours of technical assistance

and access to capital and output as the business growth, revenue, and job creation of the

businesses. We have a narrow mission, being able to not only talk about the work we do but also

focus in on what we’re doing and why.

Incubator Model

46

How do you determine who to let into the incubator?

We judge our applicants based on three primary characteristics: 1) entrepreneurial

spirit/salesmanship (how much do they want it); 2) product quality (San Francisco is a saturated

food market); and 3) product/business viability (if your food only stays good for one day, it’s just

not going to work as a business if it needs to be sold in grocery stores for a week). We believe

having someone who owns or has worked in that industry evaluate strength of product or

business plan is hugely important. We go as far as to bring someone in with intimate knowledge

of that product.

How do you determine how many new businesses to onboard each year/orientation session?

Initially we held orientations every month, and so the focus was on recruitment, and we provided

lots of opportunities for people to learn about the program. We had a rolling-basis applications,

because we needed new businesses. In 2008, 3 years after we began the incubator, we shifted

away from intense recruiting to having a cohort model and letting in small groups so they go

through together. Currently we have three cohorts a year of three to four businesses, and each

participate in a six-month training.

If you started over, would you have begun with a cohort model or stayed with the rolling

applications?

If I had to think about, I would say that it is too distracting to start with a cohort, because there

are so many needs at the beginning of the process. There is certainly a lot of value in putting

people together, as it reduces the amount of work staff has to do, but I do not think we could

have done it initially. The shift from individual to cohort helped scale but didn’t help strengthen

the program.

I see you currently have 26 businesses, how many did you start with and what has the scaling

process looked like?

Initially it was only a commissary kitchen, but when it became an incubator program, we have

had steady growth. I do not have 100% recollection, but I seem to remember that we started with

5 or 8 and it grew over time. We have gotten to a place where between 25-35 businesses is what

we can handle in the incubator given the number of stuff we have (9). It took us 5 or 6 years to

get there. We actually believe that the real driver of incubator size needs to be the point of exit

(graduation), not the point of entry.

We have a unique origin story. A local nonprofit, The Women’s Initiative for Self-

Empowerment, was already offering business planning courses to low-income women, but were

frustrated because the businesses were not taking off. La Cocina was started to be a real second-

stage process, to provide the commercial kitchen space at affordable rates that these women

needed to make their businesses a reality. The incubation program came later as we determined

that additional support was needed.

Can you walk us through the programming you offer in your incubator?

We have two staff people who are in charging of walking our participants through the

curriculum, which was designed with the help of professionals on topics such as Marketing 101

and graphic design. Our pre-incubator training last six months. In this period we have 2-3 hour

trainings every other weeks, though some days it’s six-hour days in the kitchen. In between

47

meetings, we give each participant a significant amount of individual homework that they need

to work on to master the concept. We provide free access to the kitchen during the pre-

incubation period. In addition, we set up meetings every month between participants and staff to

set goals and to set up meetings with volunteers who can help them achieve them. For example,

we make sure that every entrepreneur is paired with a pro bono attorney. We expect businesses

to spend three years in the incubator to grow to a place where you can take a risk to leave the

incubator and have your own space.

What type of back office support do you provide to the entrepreneurs?

We’ve thought about services like if we could provide accounting office hours, but the logistics

of it and everyone’s schedule being so different have prevented us from doing that. We are very

hands-on and one-on-one, but the expectation as the business grows is that they’ll outsource that.

One of the things that is an unfair burden placed on low income business is that we expect them

to do everything. We try to provide people enough of an understanding that when they hire a

bookkeeper, they can have speak with them and know what to expect.

Do you consider the incubator a full-time obligation?

Participants often have outside jobs when they begin, or they have someone in their household

that’s working to have a steady enough income to take on the risk of starting a business, but at a

certain point, when they get started, they will need to quit their job to get the business up and

running.

Do you provide any support when they make this choice?

We don’t provide any financial support directly to businesses while they are in the incubator, but

we do have relationships with organizations like CDFIs, Opportunity Fund, and Kiva that do

financial coaching around when to take on debt and how to think about growth.

What we try to do is create industry benchmarks for each of those areas. If you want to start a

successful packaged food business, here is what such successful businesses do: 1) brand; 2)

target market; 3) etc. Those benchmarks (logo, website, brand personality) become homework

assignments during time period with volunteers and staff members. We make pre-incubation

plans for each business, and the combination of everybody’s benchmarks and those we have

observed from the business and their application. People come in with unrealistic sales ideas.

What is your rate of attrition and how has it changed?

We predict a certain level of attrition. 70% of those who enter into the incubator will continue

into the program, and 70% of those who graduate will continue to go on to be successful.

Initially there was more attrition, we were figuring out business models that worked, and

recruiting different people. In looking at the number of businesses we have incubated over 10

years, 77% were still in business.

What level of support do you provide to graduates of the incubator?

When people graduate they receive a ton of services. It’s when they receive the most services,

when they’re a mature and stable business. Once they’re established and settling in their new

spot, instead of meeting with every month, we meet with them every quarter, and then it

becomes an as-needed basis. People who graduated years ago will call and ask for a lawyer,

48

update packaging design, do you know of a designer. At that point the graduates are more likely

to pay for those services, while people in our incubator get those services for free or at a reduced

rate.

We don’t have a formal program. It’s the same reason we don’t have a business planning aspect

of our program. There are so many different nonprofits that focus on business growth. We were

started as a second stage program, what we did was incubating. There are a number of nonprofits

that work with bigger companies. They work with business that do $1-5 million in sales, focus

on growth, sales that stay in urban center. There’s so many resources for existing businesses that

have restaurants, production facilities, it’s no longer our sweet spot. We do referrals to partner

organizations.

Space

How do you manage and maximize your kitchen space?

Well to start off, we have a 2,200-sq-ft commercial kitchen with 4 preparation stations.

We adapted a software system that was designed to book hotel rooms to the kitchen space.

Instead of booking a hotel room and a conference room, you can book a stove and a steamer. In

terms of efficiency and using the kitchen wisely, it is so dependent on the mix of businesses in

the program and when they sell.

Do you offer rentable office space to participants?

We have very limited office space for our own staff and they cannot rent it. We do have one

station, a computer, and a printer, and people can sit at that computer and get their work done.

It’s a little table in a lobby.

How do you protect individual’s valuables, especially in regard to the high volume of the kitchen

use?

Upstairs above the kitchen we provide large lockage cages that are assigned to participants. In

the kitchen itself we do not provide individual storage, but we do have a security camera system

in the walk-in fridge and freezer. However, things do go missing quite a bit.

Do you have any suggestions or concerns based on your experience about how to maximize the

kiosk retail opportunities?

The main thing I think about is that what are the businesses going to do when raining or in the

winter? Any outdoor sales are seasonal. We mitigate what that rollercoaster of cash flow is going

to look like for our participants. It is important to us to make sure they have multiple income

streams and are not dependent on just the farmer’s market. You can’t diversify if you’re in the

farmer’s market every day, unless you can hire staff and be in multiple places at once. It’s great

if you are providing people with a place to sell, but if no one shows up to the park, what are all of

those businesses going to do? They have to pay their employee for the day. We suggest you look

at the work of Biederman Redevelopment Ventures, who develop public private park

partnerships, most notably at Bryant Park in NYC. They could help you think about how to

design viable food businesses outdoors in the winter.

How do you manage the kitchen use between incubator participants and full rate users?

49

Our commercial users use the same reservation system and just pay higher fees per hour.

We recruit people who want to use it differently than our own users. We have openings in

weekends or evenings. We want you to produce food at La Cocina.

Organizational Structure

What do your contracts with incubator participants include?

We have a contract that’s written by a lawyer covering expectations of the program, like

attending all scheduling meetings, and the use of the kitchen. It prevents situations like

entrepreneurs putting a sign outside La Cocina that says their company’s name or anyone coming

into the kitchen space if drunk or high. If a participant does not hold up their end of their

responsibilities, we have the right to end their participation in our program. A lot of the contract

has to do with liability. Each business is insured independently. We recommend that your

program gets a great lawyer to write the contracts and to represent the incubator.

Is contract the main way to mitigate worker/food safety risks?

Yes. All of those requirements are written in there. And they sign it. And if they have someone

who doesn’t have those things, they’re liable. For example, with workers compensation claims, if

an incubator business hires staff and they are injured, they do not work at La Cocina, they work

at their own small business.

What are the major causes of conflict within the program? How are they managed?

We do not have enough office space and we don’t have enough meeting space. We have a garage

that’s not every useful. Knowing what the needs of the program are going to be, not only in the

first years, but also eventually when you have 30 businesses in there, a place where you can sit

and meet would be nice. Those are the kinds of things that we can look back now and hindsight

is 20/20. Also, our freezer is really small.

What do you consider the role of your incubator to be in the wider goal of community economic

development in San Francisco and asset building?

We try to clarify expectations for businesses and the role they will play in the community when

they exit. Often a fear on the part of our staff that the only way to get these businesses to

profitability is to expand their market as broadly as possible. That means the predominant media

coverage is going to come from a non-grassroots source. You fill up the business with people

outside the community at the expense of a truly community-building project. The reality is that

we’ve been in Mission District since 2005 and placed two Latino businesses in the Mission

District. That’s 11 years. We want to caution you on overpromising what the incubator can

deliver beyond the impact on participants.

50

Detroit Kitchen Connect (Detroit, MI)

Interview with Anika Grose, Detroit Kitchen Connect Coordinator

Organizational Information

Mission

“Detroit Kitchen Connect exists to provide reliable, accessible space for local entrepreneurs,

community members and organizations to process high-quality food products in a diverse and

collaborative learning environment.”47

Overview of DKC

Detroit Kitchen Connect program is run as the food entrepreneurship program of Eastern Market

Corporation. We provide the actual physical kitchen space on our property at Eastern Market,

and with affiliated kitchens across the city and other counties. This has enabled us to grow the

program into areas that are beyond Detroit. Our mission has been to take those food

entrepreneurs who have historically been single women head of households and allowing them to

take their dream of bakery or retail product to market, because we have access to the farmer’s

market. We became a natural location for businesses to find another way to grow. We’ve been

able to graduate businesses out of our program into brick-and-mortar storefronts and larger

kitchens to become quite prosperous. We measure success by the number of businesses that are

meeting self-defined goals.

What have you learned over the course of your time with DKC?

Operate multiple commissary kitchens.

One kitchen is great, two is better. We are confined by budget and space,

especially within historic structures.

Maximize the number of hours of the day each kitchen is open.

If an item requires prep, most participants will not want to come in at 2 am to

make it ready for 7 am—they want to do it the day before.

Expand wisely

Maximize participant use of affiliate kitchens to avoid those organizations

operating the affiliate organizations bringing in other users to fill unused space.

Incubator Model Selection

We have an application process. Sometimes it’s word of mouth. Sometimes it’s, “I heard about

your program through one of the business entrepreneurial programs that are in our region. Some

of it has been with our partner FoodLab Detroit, who is in the inner-city and has partnered with

us at the pilot of the program. They run a lot of the burgeoning food programming in the city of

Detroit for folks in the metro area. People who go through their website find us. And people who

go to DKC will find us that way too.

When someone wants to come to the kitchen, I want them to be beyond ideation. If you have an

idea, go to FoodLab. They will help you start making product. When folks come to me, I require

a business plan. They need to have been producing under Michigan Cottage Food Law, and

selling product somewhere. There needs to be a market for their product beyond their friends and

47 “Our Mission,” Detroit Kitchen Connect, 2016. <https://detroitkitchenconnect.com/kitchen-users/our-mission/>.

51

family. If you can sell your product to strangers, you’re ready to make at the larger scale. What

people don’t understand is that you’re making at least a $1,000 investment into the start-up of

your business. And if folks are thinking this is an easy way for us to make an additional revenue

without expending cash, I want them to understand this clearly isn’t the way you’re going to do

that through the application process I’m able to work with people.

Incubation

DKC works on a case-by-case basis with entrepreneurs to guide them through the regulatory and

bureaucratic process of growing a business. DKC and partners “are available to help”

entrepreneurs “navigate” the “hurdles” of “a number of licenses and certifications that a food

entrepreneur faces in starting a food business.”48 DKC works with over 30 entrepreneurs

regularly, and a slew that are coming in at different stages of their business.

Two licenses entrepreneurs acquire are the ServSafe Food Certificate and the General Business

License. The former costs $195 for a full day of instructor-led training, and the test is offered at

the end of the day. The cost of the latter varies by the type of business.

I’ve had folks I worked with several years ago that just now got licensed. They had to get several

ducks in a row (labeling, licensing, any questions they had on their product, how were they going

to package it). All of these make a difference in how long it takes someone to get through the

process. That impacts when they start and how I work with them. A lot of it is hands-on. A lot of

it is reaching out to other partner organizations for them to provide additional first-step classes

(e.g., Small Business Administration, FoodLab Detroit). What we’re doing is developing

programming for businesses that are making and need to scale. It’s that first tier of business

growth. They don’t know how to do. They have been working in their business, and now they

need to work on their business. That’s a completely different process, because you have to work

twice as long.

48 “Getting Started,” Detroit Kitchen Connect, 2016. <https://detroitkitchenconnect.com/kitchen-users/getting-

started/>.

52

We do provide a lot of detailed information on how you write your standards of operating

procedure. They don’t know what it is. You have to work through them on that process. It’s all

individualized. Working with them to understand labeling requirements. What is needed and

what is not. What is required, what is not, what you can put on, what you can’t. Understanding

policies for the state. These vary from place to place.

Working with them on understanding who they need to go, where they need to start looking to

grow their business. One gentleman sells pound cake. He has big dreams but needs to understand

how to grow that business. Packaging. How to have labeling and marketing strategies figured out

before getting product out there. How to get pricing structure so he can sell it at a wholesale and

retail rate and know where his margins are. We expect participants to make product in the

kitchen at least 10 hours per month. We call these our “heavy hobbyists.” DKC does not

compensate participants.

Graduation

What is the greatest determinant of success? Chutzpah. Participants may leave the program for

positive or negative reasons, voluntarily or involuntarily.

Table. Reasons for Exiting the Program

Negative Positive

Voluntary Business failure Business outgrows incubator space

Involuntary Kicked out (e.g., breaking incubator/state

rules, incurring too many fines)

-

DKC does not secure the next step but may connect individuals to others within their network. If

a business is looking for a brick-and-mortar, I will turn them toward the Director of the Food

Innovation Program for him to help them look at things in Eastern Market District. If they’re

looking for an accelerator space, I look at them to see what they really need and what they need

to make those decision. The bigger question is – are you growing at a rate that will allow you to

save enough to make that leap? I do not find nor secure in any way shape or form that next step

for them.

Space

Kitchen

Currently, DKC has one in-house commissary kitchen located within Eastern Market (Eastern

Market Community Kitchen, operated by Eastern Market Corporation) and two affiliate kitchens

that have been with the organization since the beginning. DKC is on-boarding two additional

affiliates later this summer. Affiliated kitchens are churches and community groups whose

mission it is to give back to the community. DKC pays a stipend to these affiliate kitchens “to

get them started.”

Retail

DKC provides an application that allows participants to select which retail space best suits their

needs. The purpose of selling in the retail space isn’t to generate enough revenue to support the

individual but to generate enough brand awareness of the product to scale the business.

53

We encourage our food entrepreneurs to look at Eastern Market as a place to sell in the market

on market days, but it’s not a guarantee that because you’re in the kitchen, you’ll use the market.

There are 22 community markets in the City of Detroit, and there are many others. We do

provide opportunities through the Farm Stand Program to link up with farm stands that sell

readymade products. We also work with some of our corporate locations that have the farm stand

to go, to have them set up a stand where they can sell product to a location. We also encourage

our makers to sell at Red Truck Fresh Produce, which is a separate program that is in partnership

with another organization.

We use a single application to match entrepreneurs to these retail opportunities. Applications are

available now. We find out who is interested, and from those who are interested, we create a

schedule so they can get in. Their participation isn’t required, it’s an opportunity. Some are

already selling in multiple locations and don’t have the bandwidth to sell at the additional stores.

I don’t dictate who goes where. I let them figure out, “Do I want to be here or be there, and how

I want to participate and how I want to grow.” This is about brand recognition and using the

marketing opportunity as more than a sales opportunity.

Organizational Structure Partnerships and funding

Eastern Market Corporation and FoodLab Detroit “developed and support” DKC but they don’t

fund it now. The program is funded through grants through other organizations, it’s a mix of

corporate and philanthropic organizations in our region and area that we get funding from. I

would love for us to be self-sustaining but we’re not there yet. To be self-sustaining, we would

have to increase our rates, deposit, and application fee. We would have to change our structure.

The application fee would have to go up. The deposit would have to change, and there would

have to be a fee to be an affiliate, instead of the stipend currently provided.

Staff

It’s myself and the Kitchen Manager. The Kitchen Manager works with the affiliate kitchens and

onboarding users into the kitchen, and I run the application process, working with business

owners through license process, onboarding, and then working with them to scale. All decisions

are made between us two.

Participant fees paid to DKC

Hourly kitchen-use fee ($10-18/hour, depending on the product being made)

Detroit Kitchen Connect Application fee ($20)

Deposit ($200)

Governance Managing Conflict

A schedule is a schedule. If there is a way to smooth ways or share space, it’s about making

those one-on-one connections. We always use punitive fees. We start with a $50 cleaning fee if

they leave a space dirty. You need to map all of the floor, not just the space you walked on,

because you walked on all of it. You need to build that time into your schedule. If not, it goes up,

and you can lose your access.

54

Appendix F: Kiosk Designs

Below are samples of potential kiosk designs.

Lakeside Model Mobile Mart Cart

http://www.globalindustrial.com/p/foodservice/displa

y/merchandising/mobile-mart-cart-gray-laminate-

stainless-steel-27-12w-60d-

70h?infoParam.campaignId=T9F&gclid=Cj0KEQjw1

v66BRCV-6rh6s-

Biu8BEiQAelpui6H4MLxYsPXkMgxMH71LuKXY

DUOA1if1WfuJ4RcEPQYaAucA8P8HAQ

Pros: Mobile, can accommodate food and non-food

vendors

Cons: May not reflect the feel that Bridge Park

leadership desires

Cambro CamKiosk KVC854C519 Green Vending

Cart with 4 Pan Wells and Canopy

http://www.webstaurantstore.com/cambro-camkiosk-

kvc854c519-green-vending-cart-with-4-pan-wells-

and-

canopy/214KVC854CGN.html?utm_source=Google

&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=GoogleShoppin

g&gclid=Cj0KEQjw1v66BRCV-6rh6s-

Biu8BEiQAelpui8eQfjmlCF6fEojyMkpfvPlNc5zq6j

MHM25F7zBHkv8aAsEe8P8HAQ

Pros: Mobile, can accommodate food and non-food

vendors, offers storage in the kiosk

Cons: May not reflect the feel that Bridge Park

leadership desires

http://www.globalindustrial.com/p/foodservice/display/merchandising/mobile-mart-cart-gray-laminate-stainless-steel-27-12w-60d-70h?infoParam.campaignId=T9F&gclid=Cj0KEQjw1v66BRCV-6rh6s-Biu8BEiQAelpui6H4MLxYsPXkMgxMH71LuKXYDUOA1if1WfuJ4RcEPQYaAucA8P8HAQ







http://www.webstaurantstore.com/cambro-camkiosk-kvc854c519-green-vending-cart-with-4-pan-wells-and-canopy/214KVC854CGN.html?utm_source=Google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=GoogleShopping&gclid=Cj0KEQjw1v66BRCV-6rh6s-Biu8BEiQAelpui8eQfjmlCF6fEojyMkpfvPlNc5zq6jMHM25F7zBHkv8aAsEe8P8HAQ








55

Japanese Style Yatai

Pros: Mobile, collapsible, provides seating for

customers, offers storage and food preparation

Cons: More expensive than cart-style kiosks, may

need to be more stylized for the Bridge Park, may not

be as flexible for non-food businesses

The Tramp About, Fort Collins, Colorado

https://fortcollinsfoodtrucks.com/place/

Pros: Self-contained, mobile, trendy styling, offers

seating for customers

Cons: May not be flexible for non-food businesses,

more expensive than smaller options

Honey Pot Food Cart, Portland, Oregon

https://portlandfoodcartadventures.com/2013/03/09/th

e-honey-pot-food-cart-one-year-anniversary-

celebration-pi-day-thursday-march-14-sunday-march-

17/

Pros: Self-contained and mobile, trendy styling

Cons: Not flexible to accommodate non-food

businesses, may be too big for the Bridge Park, more

expensive than smaller options

Le Pain Quotidian, New York City, NY

http://brighamyen.com/2013/04/18/ideas-for-

downtown-la-implement-road-diets-to-encourage-

pedestrian-activity/

Pros: Flexible to accommodate non-food businesses,

stylish

Cons: Not mobile, more expensive than other options,

may be too big for the Bridge Park

https://fortcollinsfoodtrucks.com/place/

https://portlandfoodcartadventures.com/2013/03/09/the-honey-pot-food-cart-one-year-anniversary-celebration-pi-day-thursday-march-14-sunday-march-17/




http://brighamyen.com/2013/04/18/ideas-for-downtown-la-implement-road-diets-to-encourage-pedestrian-activity/



Documents

Strategic Plan for Small Business Development at the 11th